Tory plans to freeze council tax for two years (George Osborne actually said "at least" two years) has caused serious rumblings within the umbrella body representing councils in England and Wales, the Local Government Association.

The Tory party insists it had warned the LGA of its plans – yet no one seemed to know about it, according to my source.

The Labour LGA group, apparently, are "spitting" at the surprise announcement. No wonder. Council tax is a highly populist issue, particularly among pensioners on fixed incomes forced to pay out according to the value of their property, not their ability to pay.

Today's pledge to help struggling families by freezing their council tax is based on town halls keeping their council tax bill rise to 2.5% or below. Central government will provide extra money out of savings made from a "substantial reduction" in government spending on expensive private sector consultants and advertising to fund a further 2.5% reduction in council tax.

So how many of us will benefit? This year, no more than 60 or 70 councils managed to keep their council tax that low, out of a possible 382 English local authorities, my LGA source tells me.

With pressure on services, from elderly care to bin collections, few local authorities can be expected to take up the offer of a populist council tax freeze without squeezing services further. And that's bearing in mind that local authorities have been involved in an efficiency drive since the Gershon review of 2004, commissioned by the then-chancellor, Gordon Brown.

One might also view the pledge as somewhat at odds with the Conservatives' commitment to "localism", which is all about leaving councils to make local decisions based on local needs. Councils that choose not to sign up to Osborne's offer and set council tax rises that a Tory government deems too high will be subjected to a local referendum on the issue. Currently, the Labour government "cap" cuts off rises above 5% - also a costly move since affected councils can be commanded to resend their council tax bills to residents.

No council relishes imposing high council tax increases, but sometimes needs must. So the idea that they will have to fork out between £70,000 to £90,000 to fund a ballot on the issue will simply add to their funding woes.

That, and the weekend promise to voters that a Tory government would "tell" councils to return to weekly bin collection, is somewhat undermining the message that locally elected politicians should get on with the job, unfettered by Whitehall meddling.

But let's face it, voters are less concerned with the principle of ideological consistency and more interested in how much cash they have to hand over to the state, whether local or central. If a Tory government is elected, councils will be under pressure from their constituents to sign up to the deal.